One area where we can excel is in attracting more clinical trials to Canada. It fits extremely well into what our government is trying to do as we try to boost our economy. It also has the added value of making our publicly funded health-care system even better.

The Canadian Pediatric Society has consistently called for an integrated national research strategy for children that will help streamline clinical investigation processes, and attract clinical trials from around the world to make research opportunities available to Canadian children and researchers.

Even though research in the Parkinson's disease field continues to progress, there is still no cure for this disease that affects an estimated seven million to 10 million people worldwide. Still, progress is being made as we are beginning to understand the complexity of this disease.

The latest convergence of healthcare and smartphone technology is, an open source framework that allows developers to create apps specifically designed for medical research studies. The open source element makes these studies accessible to everyone, exploiting the power of the collective to continuously refine and build on existing technologies.

Clinical trials are designed to test new ways of treating, diagnosing or preventing cancer against the best available standard of treatment that is currently available. From questions about safety, accessing newer treatments, to wondering about the benefit to your own treatment, exploring what clinical trials actually involve can help you determine if one is worth considering.

Allowing someone with schizophrenia to remain in a psychotic state is cruel and harmful to the person, but that is what happened in a recent drug trial. But that is what happened in a trial conducted by Otsuka Pharmaceutical and Lundbeck Pharmaceutical to gain approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S. earlier this year.

Improving the climate for clinical trials will also attract research investment which will in turn create jobs in healthcare and within the knowledge economy for Canadians. Clinical trials are the building blocks for innovation in healthcare and allow Canadians access to life changing innovations

Because my cancer was hormone-sensitive, I need to take a drug called Tamoxifen that is proven to reduce the risk of the cancer returning and possibly spreading to another part of my body. The newest recommendation is to stay on this drug for 10 years. Great news, right? A drug that could actually help keep me alive. I am lucky to have that option. Unfortunately, hormonal therapy for cancer comes with a whack of side effects. The biggest one for me is that I've been told not to get pregnant while taking it, due to its potential to cause birth defects.

Fecal therapy is here to stay. With the number of options to treat acute and chronic gastrointestinal disorders shrinking, a means to not only treat but also cure cannot be disregarded. People may never get used to the smell of fecal microbiota therapy, but I know they'll definitely get used to the benefits. Let's rePOOPulate.

As the morning sun pours into my bedroom, I slowly swing my legs over the side of the bed but the pain in my cramped feet make it nearly impossible to navigate to the bathroom. Like myself, many people with chronic illness awaken every morning to face a day full of challenges. What the millions of us affected with a chronic, disabling disease need is quite simple yet unbelievably complicated -- better treatments and ultimately, a cure. We often think of the search for these elusive endpoints as being far removed from us when in fact, we need to be an integral part of the process. The answers are essentially, in all of us.

Medical professionals may soon have one more weapon in their arsenal against chronic lower back pain. In 2008, a team out of the University of Southern Denmark treated a small group of lower back pain sufferers with antibiotics. Over 60% of the patients showed improvement in their condition.